This invention relates to the packing of cases, such as corrugated cardboard cartons, in a bottom loading sequence. Such an operation involves the insertion of a load into a carton through lower open flaps, rather than from above the carton or from the side, as in most conventional case packing operations. Conventional methods of case loading are often undesirable due to the nature of the loads involved, which can be either too fragile to risk accidental dropping and damage or are too unstable to permit grasping and moving of the load from above or from the side. As an example, the present apparatus and method were designed specifically for loading of folded computer printout forms, which are accordion pleated in a vertical stack comprising a continuous ribbon of paper. Such a load cannot be grasped from above, due to its very nature as a continuous strip of paper. It also is very unstable and likely to slip from one side to the other if not handled carefully during packing of a case. The solution to these problems has been the development of a mechanism and method for bottom loading of a case with the load supported on movable support plates that transfer the load directly to subsequently sealed interior flap surfaces of the receiving case.
The following description relates to the packing mechanism itself, and is used in conjunction with other mechanisms and devices of known construction. Specifically, the apparatus is used in combination with a carton delivery and expanding apparatus which feeds individual collapsed rectangular cartons to a conveyor mechanism in an expanded or erected configuration. An example of such an apparatus is disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,696 to Pearson, which is hereby incorporated by reference.